![]() Instead of worrying about footage of poor animal welfare being leaked by whistleblowers, our PM should be worried about the animal welfare that is the cause of this outrage. Perhaps start with the other side of live export – outback cattle stations. Drought is no excuse. These animals should not be dying day after day. Drought management strategies exist in 21st century ... if animals are dying, they should have been shot. It's not as though they can walk far from the water. And they certainly can't walk far enough to get any last vestiges of the dry, useless 2017 grass, if any still exists. And no, this is not Noonkanbah – and we have photos of more than one station. This is endemic. In good years, they get exported, in bad years, they die. WARNING: the images below are confronting.
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Well, the Al Messilah is in Freo Port and as we drove down Stirling Highway today, there was not one but 3 sparkling new red and white livestock trucks heading out from the port.
7 years of port watching and we've rarely seen a new truck. This morning 3/3 were as pretty as a picture, sparkling. So....either a) the industry is putting on a massive PR effort (were there any VIPs visiting the ship today?????) or b) the livestock trucking industry is going great guns despite the drop off in live export (so much for all the support industries suffering?). Unprecedented.... and no we didnt get pictures as we were too gobsmacked. Queensland's Country Life has just reported the most amazing admission from Landmark International's General Manager Mr Andy Ingle:
“It has been made very clear in both the ASEL review and by HSRA review panel that a move away from mortality as a measure to heat stress risk assessment is favored” Mr Ingle said. “But it will halt the trade of all shipments made of cattle from southern ports and notably of Bos Taurus cattle. It will be devastating for the region’s producers as it is not possible, even through the preferred shipping months between November to April, to met the recommended Wet Bulb temperature (WBT) of 28 degrees threshold as ships near the Equator”. As an example, he said on Landmark’s most recent shipment to Russia, which is currently disembarking 12,000 feeder steers and included 6000 steers in Israel, the WBT through that voyage ran above the 28-degree threshold for seven consecutive days as it crossed the Equator and the shipment recorded only 0.013 per cent mortality rate." [This is a direct quote with BOLDING FROM VALE.] So here we are again....7 consecutive days of heat stress is fine....so long as they dont die. There is a reason the HSRA and ASEL are being revised Mr Ingle....this is no longer (and never was) acceptable! The heat stress risk assessment draft report is out....and, using animal welfare rather than mortality as a goal (after 40 years of suffering), it is evident that sheep cant go to to the ME during the northern summer (plus a fair few other months).
In addition, the report recommends that its not only the shipping phase but the destination ports that need to be considered......at last some common sense. VALE congratulates the advisory panel for their thorough assessment. And now...it looks like job done. The live sheep export trade is effectively OVER! Well the breaking news is that sheep will no longer be exported to the Middle East during northern hemisphere summer....well for 3 months of it.
Exporters have agreed to impose a three-month moratorium on shipments in a bid to “reset” the trade and apparently wrote to WA sheep producers yesterday advising of the moratorium, which will take effect from June 1, 2019. VALE commends this action BUT but a cynic would also comment that this was probably going to be the case anyway assuming, as seems likely that ALP will win the 2019 election. If the exporters had been really serious, about animal welfare they would have ceased the trade from May to October as has been recommended by the Australian Veterinary Association. BUT....at least it gives the farmers certainty so they can now get on with transition planning etc ....the very real positive to come out of this. The Jawan issue just becomes more and more interesting. First it very nearly capsized before leaving the harbour, then it was unloaded a bit and they gave it a second crack.....aborted. So then AMSA insisted all cattle be unloaded ....and guess what? It seems to have made it out of port and out to sea with no problems.....suggesting that there was no inherent issue with the actual ship.
So, was this a ship issue or a loading issue? Who knows? Only thing VALE knows is that ALEC have been very keen to distance themselves from the exporter involved!!! Not a good week for industry......an independent observer report that indicates the true suffering of live export...and a ship loaded with dairy cattle that nearly capsizes. See also: vale_fact_sheet_IO Report Whilst everyone in industry and government seem to be patting themselves on the back for the first independent observer report from a low mortality northern summer voyage, they seem to have overlooked what this report actually said.
This was a small relatively modern ship with a small number of sheep (9227) given an extra 17.5% space allowance above ASEL. It sailed in June 2018 from Fremantle to Haifa. Despite the extra space, ALL the sheep had heat stress continuously from the Equator to the Suez Canal (about 10 days for most ships) with one afternoon of Panting Score 3 on all decks. McCarthy said the HSRA should be redesigned such that there was only a 2% probability that 5% of sheep would have heat stress. Well it looks to have been 100% on this ship and it occurred despite the increased space. VALE have long maintained that winter-acclimatised sheep should not be sent to the northern summer. The Australian Veterinary Association made a recommendation that no amount of space could prevent heat stress in the ME summer and recommended that sheep not sail 1 May to 31 October. So here we are...everyone patting themselves on the back about a voyage with very serious morbidity and a heat stress incident. THEY STILL DONT GET IT!!!! The MV Jawan carrying 4327 breeders has had to turn back to port after is started rolling from side to side (see video). It has been reported to the Port of Portland that there are no injuries to the cattle onboard. The AJP thinks this is most unlikely. VALE would be a bit dubious also. Watching the footage one has to be grateful it didnt capsize completely...lucky it was dead calm!
The infamous Cormo Express....the ship that sparked the Keniry Enquiry...became the Merino Express.
The oh so mighty ship MV Becrux....that had a major heat stress disaster on its major voyage...was changed to Ocean Drover. Now we have the Awassi Express....the ship that sparked the McCarthy Review and the Moss Review...also because of heat stress.... changed to Anna Marra.... Come on guys, the public just arent that stupid. Oh...and in case anyone wants to know where this ship is...its hovering around Rottnest Island near Fremantle....perhaps tarting up its latest paintwork?? The agriculture minister, David Littleproud, is sending in a former head of the Australian Crime Commission (ACC) to investigate allegations that departmental staff were dissuaded from reporting animal welfare issues in the live sheep trade.
The recent Moss review highlighted that former staff members in the animal welfare branch of the agriculture department allegedly had their reports “revised or redrafted to dilute or expunge findings which adversely reflected on the regulatory framework”. [See more in The Guardian] Wonder whether they will look into the convenient removal of Dr Lynn Simpson (one of the few people in the department who knew what actually happened on ships). Hmmm bet there are a few worried people around the government offices tonight.....and not before time! |
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